S18 Ep3: José Pizarro

Desert Island Dishes

Food, Food Interview, Desert Island, Desert Island Dishes, Arts, Food Podcast, Dish, Interview, Society & Culture, Cooking, Chef, Personal Journals

4.8 • 780 Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My guest today is José Pizarro.

José has been been cooking in the UK for over 25 years. He grew up in the outermost Western province of Spain and never thought of working in food, in fact he was all set to become a dental technician before fate intervened. He arrived in the UK in 1999 seeking to expand his horizons as a chef and has since become one of the industry’s best-loved characters.

He worked at several Spanish restaurants, including Brindisa, where he was executive chef. Then, in 2011, he opened two restaurants of his own on Bermondsey Street, south-east London: a tiny tapas bar named José and the larger Pizarro, both instant hits. Many more restaurants and cookbooks have followed all championing Spanish cuisine. In recognition of his “extraordinary services to Spain”, Pizarro was awarded the officer’s cross of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Spanish ambassador in London.

He says when it comes to cooking, he has a mantra, “Buy the best and don’t mess it up” - often described as The Godfather of Spanish cuisine in the UK.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Margie Nomura and welcome to the Desert Island Dishes podcast.
0:07.0	This is the podcast where every week I ask my guest to choose their seven Desert Island dishes.
0:13.0	These range from finding out about the dish that most reminds them of their childhood,
0:17.0	the best dish they've ever eaten, and of course, the last dish they would choose to
0:22.1	eat before being cast off to the desert island.
0:25.1	The question is, what would you choose as your last meal?
0:29.1	Hi, I hope you're all very well and having a lovely week.
0:33.1	I had heard many people describe today's guest as one of the nicest men in food, and I have to say,
0:39.5	he did not disappoint. I always find it very reassuring and somewhat comforting when very successful
0:46.4	people are also incredibly nice. We touch on it lightly, but Jose has seven restaurants in London alone.
0:55.5	He also has a restaurant in Abu Dhabi, and of course he also has restaurants on board P&O cruisers on six of the ships, I think.
1:05.3	So he really does run an empire.
1:07.8	He's a very busy man, and I felt very lucky to get the time to sit down with him
1:12.7	and talk all things desert island dishes. I hope wherever you are and whatever you're doing,
1:18.8	you enjoy today's episode and as always, we love to hear your thoughts.
1:25.7	My guest today is Jose Pizarro.
1:28.8	Jose has been cooking in the UK for over 25 years.
1:32.6	He grew up in the outermost western province in Spain and never thought of working in food.
1:37.4	In fact, he was all set to become a dental technician before fate intervened.
1:42.2	He arrived in the UK in 1999, seeking to expand his horizons as a chef
1:47.2	and has since become one of the industry's best-loved characters. He worked at several Spanish restaurants,
1:53.5	including Brindisa, where he was executive chef, and then in 2011 he opened two restaurants
	...

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